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Will please turn with me in your 
Bibles to John's Gospel, John chapter one. John chapter one, I'll read verses 
one to 18. John 1, beginning in verse 1, 
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and 
the Word was God. He was in the beginning with 
God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing 
was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life 
was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, 
and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from 
God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, 
to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe. 
He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that 
light. That was the true light, which gives light to every man 
coming into the world. He was in the world, and the 
world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He 
came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many 
as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children 
of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born, not 
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of 
man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and 
dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the 
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 
bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, This was He of whom 
I said, He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He 
was before me. And of His fullness we have all 
received, and grace for grace, For the law was given through 
Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one 
has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is 
in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." Amen. Well, 
let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you 
for this blessed Sabbath. We thank you for the Lord's Day, 
for the opportunity to gather together, to come to the Father 
through the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit. And we pray 
that God would be all in all in this place, that you would 
be worshipped and glorified, that you would be exalted and 
adored. and that God, as we sing and as we pray and as we look 
at Holy Scripture, we would take every thought captive to the 
obedience of Jesus Christ. And even now, as we come to John's 
Gospel, specifically verse 14, we pray that you would bless 
us with the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit, that 
we may appreciate, that we may stand in awe that the Word became 
flesh, that Jesus came down from heaven for us men and for our 
salvation. And may these things encourage 
us to worship you, to express gratitude and thankfulness to 
you for your loving kindness and your grace and your mercy. 
Forgive us now for all sin and transgression. And Lord God, 
we pray that your Holy Spirit would work in the hearts of those 
who have yet to come to the Lord Jesus. We pray that they would 
see this one who is full of grace and truth as one who is altogether 
lovely and chief among 10,000 and the one in whom is salvation. And we ask this through Christ 
Jesus, our Lord, amen. Well, we just sang a particular 
stanza in the hymn book that is most excellent and I think 
rightly reflects what we're going to look at today in verse 14. We sang, Christ by highest heaven 
adored, Christ the everlasting Lord. Late in time behold him 
come, offspring of the virgin's womb. Veiled in flesh the Godhead 
see. Hail the incarnate deity. Pleased as man with men to dwell 
Jesus, our Emmanuel. A most excellent sort of summary 
statement concerning the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. John 
Calvin said with reference to the incarnation, or at least 
it's been ascribed to him. I've also heard it ascribed to 
Augustine. I'm not quite sure who said it, 
but somebody said it and it goes like this. The son of God became 
the son of man so that the sons of men could become the sons 
of God. And I think that is a great explanation 
of verse 14 as well. And this morning, I want to look 
at verse 14 under two considerations. First, the incarnation of the 
word, and secondly, the glory of the word. Now, the word incarnation 
simply means coming into flesh, and that is precisely what John 
says happens with reference to the second person of the Blessed 
Trinity, namely the Word of God. So, in the first place, let us 
look at the incarnation. According to verse 14, John says, 
and the Word became flesh. Now, we ought not to be puzzled 
as to the identity of the Word because John's already talked 
about the Word in the preceding verses. Notice in verse 1, the 
Word was in the beginning with God and the Word was God. It is most important that we 
identify John's theology in verse 1. The Bible teaches there is 
but one true and living God who exists eternally as Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit. We need to maintain not only 
the oneness of God in terms of essence or substance, but we 
need to maintain carefully the distinction between the persons 
of the Godhead. There is that distinction. On 
the one hand, we want to avoid the error of what's called monarchianism, 
to see the Father as God and then the Son and the Spirit as 
subordinate to Him. But on the other hand, we want 
to avoid what's been called modalism. It is not the case that there's 
this one God who's appeared as Father, and then Son, and then 
Spirit. There are three distinct persons, 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And in John 1.1, John not only 
identifies the word with God, but he also identifies the word 
as God. And so John's theology is robustly 
Trinitarian, and he is presenting to us the glory of the incarnation, 
specifically in verse 14. So in the beginning, according 
to verse 1, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 
Word was God. The Word was the agent of creation. The reason that I bring this 
up is because John does in verse 3, but as well to say this, that 
John speaks of Jesus as the Word. The Greek word for Word there 
is logos. And the word logos has a very 
intricate history in philosophical use that I'm simply not going 
to get into, but I do want us to appreciate some of the Old 
Testament context with reference to this. In the Genesis account, 
Genesis chapter one, it's God said or God spoke. It was by 
the word of his power that he called creation into being. Now 
scripture identifies that word here and tells us that he was 
the responsible agent for the creation account. We see that 
in Colossians 1 and as well in Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 
1. So we have this word that was 
in the beginning with God and was God. The word was the agent 
of creation. And then as well, continuing 
in John's prologue here, the word was in the world. The world 
was made through him. and the world did not know him 
according to verse 10. And then in verse 11, he came 
to his own, but his own did not receive him. So Christ was the 
Messiah, as Steve read there, the history of Israel testified 
concerning this coming one, concerning this champion, concerning this 
beloved that would come and save his people from their sins. Well, 
that's Jesus. He came to his own, but his own 
receives him not. But then in verses 12 and 13, 
as many as do receive him, they are given the right to become 
the children of God Almighty. So the word of verse 14 is the 
second person of the Trinity who was in the beginning with 
God and was in fact God. This word is also referred to 
by that terminology in 1st John 1.1 and then again in Revelation 
19.13. So when we read verse 14 and it says, the Word became 
flesh, we need to understand the identity of the Word. It's 
Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus, the second person 
of the Trinity, left heaven above to come into this world. And 
as John stipulates here in verse 14, He became flesh. And that 
is the incarnation of the word. So the apostle moves from the 
beginning, verse one, to the son, or to the second person 
of the Trinity, or to the word, coming in and living amongst 
men. We might ask the question, well, 
how could such a thing ever occur? He is in the beginning with God, 
and He is God, and now He comes to His own, and His own received 
Him not. What happened such that the second person of the Trinity 
comes down now and occupies the same space, the same history, 
the same time with His contemporaries? Well, that's the emphasis of 
verse 14. The Word became flesh. Again, 
the word incarnation, both in Greek and in Latin, means coming 
into the flesh. And notice the language that 
John utilizes in verse 14. The word became flesh. So he 
was always, as the second person of the Trinity, there never was 
a time when the Son was not. He's always been. From everlasting 
to everlasting, thou art God. He never stopped being what he 
was essentially, but he became flesh. He took on our humanity, 
and in the language of our confession of faith, it says He did take 
upon Him man's nature with all the essential properties and 
common infirmities thereof, yet without sin. And when John says 
the Word became flesh, we're supposed to understand everything 
that is true of man was true of the Word. It's not just a 
part of flesh, not just a bit of our humanity, but Christ, 
in fact, assumed true humanity. In the language of the Geneva 
Bible, it says, that is, with reference to flesh, man, so that 
the part is taken for the whole. For he took upon him all our 
whole nature, that is to say a true body and a true soul. Now the apostle Paul does something 
similar in 2 Corinthians 8, 9. He tells us, you know the grace 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, again, according 
to his essence, according to his position as the second person 
of the Trinity, yet for our sakes or your sakes, he became poor. He became poor through taking 
on our humanity. And as the confession of faith 
says, all the essential properties and the common infirmities thereof 
and yet without sin. It really is an incredible reality. 
The incarnation of our Lord is most glorious, most wondrous 
and most excellent. And it's something that we ought 
to occupy ourselves with because if we're wrong here, we're wrong 
with reference to salvation. Jesus taught in John 8, if you 
do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins. In other 
words, we need to get Christology right. We need to understand 
that what John is talking about here is what later would be called 
the hypostatic union. You have the one person of our 
Lord Jesus Christ in two natures, both human and divine. And as 
we look at this particular passage, again, it's important for us 
to understand that he never stopped being the Word. He didn't temporarily 
suspend his privileges as deity and become a man. He never ceased 
to be the second person of the Trinity when he takes on our 
humanity. Again, that hypostatic union, 
our confession of faith. And I'm leaning on this because 
throughout the Church, the history of the Church, you see littered 
Christological heresies. You see people messing up at 
this particular point. Some would suggest that the Lord 
Jesus took on a human body as if it was a flesh suit, that 
there wasn't really a true humanity. It was just sort of a suit that 
he wore and he functioned as God in a body. That's not true. He took on our humanity. He assumed 
our flesh. not only our flesh, but that 
reasonable soul as well. The Scripture declares for us 
that He was, in fact, holy man, and that's something that we 
need to maintain. And with reference to this union 
of the natures in the one person, we want to make sure that we 
understand, with the Confession, rightly reflecting the history 
of the Church in our better moments, It says, so that two whole, perfect 
and distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one person 
without conversion, composition, or confusion. Which person is 
very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between 
God and men. Again, you can't be wrong here. 
The history of the church is filled with all kinds of persons 
that missed it with reference to the person of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. That's not what we want here. You need to understand 
who he is. You need to understand this union 
of the natures in the one person. You need to understand the glory 
of the incarnation, the reality that he does come down. for us 
men and for our salvation. On this point, the Word remaining, 
the Word, while He assumes our humanity, Cyril of Alexandria 
said, He came forth a man of a woman, not casting aside His 
being as God and the fact of His having been begotten by the 
Father. Even in the assumption of our 
flesh, He remained what He was. So he doesn't divest himself 
or empty himself or set aside or lay aside his essential glory, 
his deity, his power, his magnificence, but rather he in the incarnation 
becomes flesh. The Word became flesh. And then 
in terms of the significance of this, I can do no better than 
the Nicene Creed. He came down from heaven for 
us men and for our salvation. What is the demand of God with 
reference to entering into the presence of God? It's holiness, 
it's righteousness, it's obedience to the law that's perpetual, 
that's perfect, that's exact, that's entire. That is God's 
demand and God's requirement, but we failed. In Adam all die. And as positionally in Adam, 
it's from that vantage point that all of our actual transgressions 
proceed. We sin against God. We rebel 
against God. We transgress His law. We lack 
conformity unto it. There is nothing about God that 
is drawing us. There is no fear of God before 
our eyes. We don't seek Him. We don't want Him. We don't delight 
in Him, as we were created to do. So Christ comes down for 
us men and for our salvation. He assumes our humanity so that 
He can live in light of that law. He can obey the Father, 
every jot and tittle of God's law. He does it. He fulfills 
it. And then He goes to that cross 
on our behalf, and there is the Lamb of God who takes away the 
sin of the world. We need that perfect one, we 
need that spotless one, we need that holy one, that harmless 
one, in order to save us from our sins. In fact, the great 
contender for the Christian faith, Athanasius, used this as a proof 
concerning the deity of Jesus Christ. He says that only God 
Himself could save fallen humanity. That is a great statement concerning 
the reality of what we have, and the Word became flesh and 
dwelt among us. He became flesh in order to render 
perfect obedience, both active and passive, to the Father. He 
came and saw Him to save us men and to produce that eternal life. Now, in terms of the true humanity 
of Jesus Christ, we could literally be here all day, turning page 
after page after page to display the true humanity of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. But we will just consider a few 
things. He's born of a woman. The birth 
narratives record that for us. He's in the womb of the Virgin 
Mary and he is born. Galatians 4, the Apostle Paul 
says, in the fullness of the time, God sent forth his son, 
born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the 
law, and we see that with reference to Mary. She's found to be with 
child, and then they bear, she bears this child, and Joseph 
does what he's been commanded by the angel, and he names him 
Jesus, for it is he who will save his people from their sins. 
We see in Luke's gospel that he increased in knowledge and 
understanding or knowledge and wisdom among men. Again, that's 
not specified concerning the second person of the Trinity. 
There's no need for growth or maturation in terms of who God 
is. We are not Mormons with reference 
to a progressive God, but that's with reference to his humanity. 
That's according to his humanity, the fact that the word became 
flesh and dwelt among us. As well, he ate. He drank. He worked. He dignified work. Next time we don't want to go 
to work, we ought to consider our blessed Savior at work. He rested. Remember that instance 
where he's on the boat with the disciples and he takes a pillow 
and he lays down and he has a nap. Well, that's not according to 
his deity, because God doesn't slumber, God doesn't rest, God 
doesn't weary, God doesn't need naps, but according to his humanity, 
the Son of Man rested. We know as well that he suffered. 
We know as well that he died. We know as well that he was resurrected 
from the dead. This one became flesh. He didn't just add it to his 
deity, but he assumed our humanity. Everything that is unique to 
man was unique to this God-man. Again, he never ceased being 
the second person of the Trinity. He never divested himself of 
his deity, but rather, with reference to our salvation, he became incarnate. Cyril of Jerusalem made this 
comment. He said, he did not pass through 
the virgin as through a channel, but truly took flesh and was 
truly fed with milk from her. He truly ate as we eat and drank 
as we drink. For if the incarnation was a 
figment, then our salvation was a figment. That's important. Whatever is not assumed is not 
redeemed. If Christ did not take on true 
humanity, then you and I are dead in our trespasses and sins. 
The reality is, is that the Word became flesh. The Word was incarnate. The Word came down for us men 
and for our salvation. The Word did this in order to 
render that perfect obedience to the written law and to render 
that sacrifice at Calvary. He did what we wouldn't do and 
what we couldn't do, and that's the beauty and the glory of the 
incarnation. Now let's look, secondly, at 
what John says concerning His glory. He's moving in his passage 
or in verse 14, he says, the word became flesh. And then he 
says, and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory 
as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. 
In the first place, he says that he was present among us. He dwelt 
among us. And I think the first thing we 
ought to consider is how Jesus fulfills what the tabernacle 
and later temple stood for. What was the tabernacle in the 
temple about? It was about the dwelling place 
of God with men. veiled in flesh the Godhead see, 
hail the incarnate deity, pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus 
our Emmanuel. This is the glorious reality 
that he became flesh and dwelt among us. The particular verb 
there is very clear. It's to live in a tent, to settle. And I think the presence of the 
word among us, as John relates it, means that we ought to think, 
Tabernacle, temple fulfilled in our Lord. You say, well, that's 
a step you're not authorized to make. Oh yeah, certainly. 
John chapter two, destroy this temple and in three days I will 
raise it up. Well, subsequent to his death 
and resurrection, his theological interpreters understood that 
he was talking about the temple of his body. Revelation 21 and 
22, that new heavens and that new earth, what's it all about? 
It's about Christ. It's about dwelling. It's about 
presence. It's about being in the midst of our great and our 
glorious God. That is the summation, the consummation, 
if you will, of the covenant promises of God. What's always 
stipulated when God covenants in the Old Testament? I will 
be your God and you shall be my people. That's realized in 
the New Jerusalem. That's realized in the person 
and the work of the Lord Jesus. He is the temple of God. He is 
the one in whom we have communion with our gracious Father. So the presence of the Word among 
us is reminiscent of tabernacle and temple, but as well the presence 
of the Word among us is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. When 
he says the word became flesh and dwelt among us, the prophet 
Isaiah spoke to that. Isaiah 9, 6 and 7. The prophet 
Micah 5, 2. It's out of Bethlehem Ephrathah 
that this ruler will come forth, whose origins are from of old, 
from everlasting. So what we have in verse 14 concerning 
the incarnation of the word is the fulfillment of the prophetic 
witness concerning the word. And then the presence of the 
word among us demonstrates that Jesus Christ is, in fact, Immanuel. In fact, turn to Matthew's gospel, 
where you see that threefold emphasis on Immanuel, God with 
us. That's precisely what Immanuel 
means. Jesus our Immanuel means God 
with us. You see that in Matthew's gospel. 
At verse, we'll go verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ 
was as follows. After his mother Mary was betrothed 
to Joseph, before they came together, she was found the child of the 
Holy Spirit. And Joseph, her husband, being 
a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was 
minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these 
things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream 
saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you 
Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the 
Holy Spirit. and she will bring forth a son, 
and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from 
their sins." You see that threefold emphasis there. Well, not the 
one I'm speaking about, but her task is to bring forth the son. That's her chosen role, her role 
as a chosen vessel in the Church of Christ. Sometimes Roman Catholic 
theology sort of represents her as being sinless herself. No, 
she was a sinner. in her rejoicing over the realities 
that would obtain with reference to her role. She rejoices in 
God, my Savior, according to Luke's gospel. She was not without 
sin. She was not a perpetual virgin. 
All of that sort of mythology that has developed around her, 
it's not biblical. It's without warrant. But nevertheless, 
she was blessed among women. She was chosen as the vessel 
to bring forth Messiah. And that's her particular calling. 
And that's what Matthew 1.21 tells us. Joseph has a task in 
the incarnation as well. He's supposed to name the boy. 
He's supposed to give him that title, Jesus, which literally 
means Yahweh is salvation. It's the Greek equivalent to 
Joshua that is the Hebrew word Yahweh is salvation. So you've 
got Mary's job, give birth to the child. You've got Joseph's 
job, which is to name the child, but then you have the child's 
job specified, for he will save his people from their sins. Again, 
that's the significance of the incarnation. He came down from 
heaven for us men and for our salvation. That's what is absolutely 
crucial, to to get your minds wrapped around. If you're not 
a Christian this morning, you might be operating under the 
faulty assumption that, you know, God really doesn't wanna save. God only grabs a handful of people. When we get to that new Jerusalem, 
there's gonna be like five or six or maybe eight. If that's 
your conception, you've misread or misunderstood the incarnation. 
Why does he come down? For us men and for our salvation. If the Word who is in the beginning 
with God and the Word who was God comes into this world, takes 
on our humanity, identifies with us body and soul, and is not 
received by His own, and ultimately suffers and dies and is risen 
again the third day, why does He do this? For the salvation 
of sinners. Let that be a great enticement 
or a great encouragement or a great provocation for you to flee to 
the Savior, to flee to the One who does all that the Scripture 
declares concerning Him. And as we look at Matthew's Gospel, 
notice in verse 22, so all this was done that it might be fulfilled 
which was spoken by the Lord, through the prophet saying, behold, 
the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall 
call his name Immanuel, which is translated God with us. You 
see the emphasis there. It's a blessed title, terms, 
a word rather for our Lord, Immanuel. But Matthew's gospel doesn't 
let us forget that reality. Christ is with his people. Notice 
in Matthew 18. Again, the name Immanuel is absent, 
but the concept of his presence is present. Matthew 18, 20. Well, 
verse 19, again, I say to you that if two of you agree on earth 
concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them 
by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered 
together in my name, I am there in the midst of them. He is our 
Emmanuel as we gather together as the people of God. And then 
of course, that great statement in Matthew's gospel at the end, 
chapter 28, the great commission, verse 18, all authority has been 
given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make 
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of 
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching 
them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo, 
I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Jesus is 
our Emmanuel. He is our God with us. He is present. He is among us. He is the reason for or the antitype 
of both tabernacle and temple. It is where God and sinners meet 
together. And that is the significance 
of John's statement. He dwelt among us. The presence of the Word among 
us demonstrates that Jesus Christ is, in fact, Emmanuel to His 
people. But then notice, He speaks specifically 
concerning the glory of this Word. Verse 14, the Word became 
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory 
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Now, Ritterbos explains the significance 
here with reference to the word glory. He says the Greek word 
doxa, glory, is a translation of the Old Testament word kavod, 
and refers to a visible and powerful manifestation of God. That's 
what John's saying. We beheld His glory. He goes on to say the point here 
is not a single sensational event. A lot of people say, well, it's 
the Mount of Transfiguration. That's when, as it were, Christ 
sort of peels back the flesh, and I speak in the manner of 
men, to show us His essential glory. But what Ritterbos is 
suggesting is that's not the point. The point is not a single 
sensational event, but that glory that is attendant on the dwelling. In other words, when you looked 
at the tabernacle or temple, and God was present, there was 
a word for that. It was called the Shekinah Glory, 
the manifestation and presence of God. You see it clearly in 
Exodus 40. The tabernacle is constructed, 
the glory of God comes down, and the persons of Israel, Moses 
included, could not enter in. because of that glory, because 
of that presence, because of that majesty. That's why the 
book of Leviticus prescribes sacrifice as the means by which 
the sinners can enter into the tabernacle and temple. So I think 
he's on the right point. The pointer is not a single sensational 
event, but that glory that is attendant on the dwelling. Just 
as in the Old Testament, there is a persistent connection between 
God's presence in tabernacle and temple and the divine glory 
revealing itself there. See, this is what John is saying. 
We beheld his glory. We saw it. It was there. It was present. This is why pictures 
of Jesus are wrong. You can't capture that into an 
image. You can't capture that by art 
or devising. You can't put that on paper. 
It's not to suggest or say he wasn't truly flesh. He was truly 
flesh, but also truly God. And in order to convey the Savior 
on paper, you only capture part of Him. You only give us the 
physicality and not the glory of deity. And so what John is 
saying, we beheld His glory. And as we ponder, we can honestly 
say all that Christ did was in fact glorious. They saw his miracles. They saw the Mount of Transfiguration. 
They saw the fact that he suffered, that he died, that he was raised 
again. John says the Word became flesh and he dwelt among us and 
we beheld it. We saw it. We witnessed it. We testified concerning it. This isn't a cunningly devised 
fable. This isn't mythology. This isn't something pagan that 
we baptized and tried to make a nice Christian story with. 
No, this is the glorious truth that the second person of the 
Trinity called in this context, the word of the living and true 
God comes down for us men and for our salvation. He takes on 
our humanity. He becomes flesh for us. And 
John says, we beheld his glory. We saw it. This is why the apostles 
were with him or mesmerized by him, not in some weird fanatical 
way, but a beholding of his glory. And then he goes on to explain 
this glory that is revealed. Notice what he says, we beheld 
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. 
I want to tell you something right off the bat. I think this 
is a reference to the fact of the glory as of the only begotten 
of the Father is a reference to His deity. It's a reference 
to His essential glory as the Word who was in the beginning 
with God and who was with God. That next statement, full of 
grace and truth, I think John is speaking according to his 
humanity. I want to unpack that just to 
try and see if in fact that is the case. Notice the explanation 
of his glory. We beheld his glory, the glory 
as of the only begotten of the Father. That's with reference 
to His relation to the Father as the Word. We beheld His glory, 
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. The word as there 
is not a comparison. He's not comparing the Word's 
glory with the Father's glory, but rather it is an explanation. It is an explanation of that 
glory. We could translate in keeping 
with his nature as the only begotten of the Father. The glory as of 
the only begotten of the Father in keeping with the nature of 
his position as that begotten of the Father. And that whole 
idea of the begottenness of the Father, we just dealt with this 
in Acts 13. Steve read Acts 13, he stopped 
at 25. Well, in verse 33, remember what 
Paul does? He appeals to this doctrine of 
the eternal generation of the Son, because Psalm 2 teaches 
this. Proverbs 8 teaches this. 1 John teaches this. John's Gospel 
teaches this. The entirety of the Bible teaches 
that Christ is the only begotten Son of the Father. Now, the sort 
of desire on the part of many is just to say, well, that just 
means he's unique. That just means he's not like 
others. Well, it does mean that, but it also speaks concerning 
the eternal generation of the son, the relation that obtains 
between the father and the son. In Trinitarian theology, we look 
at the particular persons and we identify things that are unique 
to them. The father is unbegotten, the 
son is begotten, and the spirit proceeds from the father and 
the son. Now, we often think, well, I don't know, or I can't 
convey, or I can't conceive of how that all works. These are 
given so that we maintain the distinction between the persons. Remember at the very beginning 
of the service, I said, we need to not only highlight the oneness 
of God in terms of his essence or substance, but we need to 
as well highlight the distinction between the persons. That's heresy 
too, to deny that. It's heresy to sort of say that 
Jesus is subordinate to the Father in terms of who He is. That's 
not right. That's not good theology. That 
is a denial of John 8, 24. If you do not believe that I 
am, you will die in your sins. It's not saying I am, but a little 
bit less. It is these things, these properties, 
unbegotten, begotten, inspiration, that distinguish the persons 
from one another, and that is absolutely crucial. And this 
language, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 
One modern author that teaches this truth says that Athanasius 
and all the Nicene theologians saw clearly that to speak of 
the Son of God as eternally begotten, not only safeguarded His full 
divinity, but also indelibly distinguished Him from the Father. 
Now, it's at this point that some of you might be going, well, 
you know, that's not really important. It is important. Look back in 
church history, and as I said, it's littered with people that 
have messed up with Jesus. They have messed up big time. 
You can mess up on some things in the Bible. I don't recommend 
this, but you could be wrong on eschatology. You could be 
wrong about the particular events associated with the second coming 
of Jesus Christ and still go to heaven. In fact, the early 
creeds and confessions in the church were called ecumenical 
creeds. And the idea behind ecumenicism 
is to bring believers together to rejoice in the truth. But 
their ecumenicism was not like the ecumenicism today. The ecumenicism 
today says, let's sacrifice truth. Let's just put up a big tent. 
And it really doesn't matter who you are or what you believe. 
If you can say the name Jesus, well, then you're in. Well, interestingly, 
these ecumenical creeds typically ended with the pronouncements 
of anathema. In other words, if you deny this 
truth concerning Jesus, then let him be anathema. A condemnation 
to hell is how these ecumenical creeds function in the early 
church. It wasn't to try and bring in 
the most people with the least amount of truth. but it was rather 
to secure a proper confession of the faith, which was once 
for all delivered to the saints. There's a big difference in terms 
of ecumenicism now and ecumenicism then. And when it comes to God 
Almighty, it is not only absolutely crucial to maintain His oneness, 
but as well His threeness. If we deny that, then we have 
set up an idol and we have bowed instead of to God. So this idea 
of the eternal generation of the Son is what John is saying. We beheld His glory, the glory 
as of the only begotten of the Father. He could have easily 
have said, the glory as of the Word, the one who was with God 
and the Word who was God. It is this glory that we beheld, 
it is this beauty, this majesty, this excellence that we saw and 
witnessed. Our confession of faith takes 
the same tact when it describes the relation between the persons. And again, this is crucial because 
you must maintain the threeness of God along with the oneness. One in one sense, three in another 
sense. For a Jehovah's Witness to say, 
well, that's just contradiction. Evidence is that they don't have 
a clue what they're talking about. We do not maintain three in one 
sense and one in the same sense. He's one in one sense, essence, 
substance, and three in another sense, according to distinction, 
according to subsistence or person. And our confession takes pains 
to make that clear in chapter two, not chapter eight, In chapter 
2, with reference to God and the Holy Trinity, it says, in 
this divine and infinite being, there are three subsistences. 
The Westminster has person, same sort of idea, subsistence is 
probably better. The Father, the Word, or Son, 
and the Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and eternity, each having 
the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided. See why 
it's wrong for Protestant and Catholic, I don't know if Catholics 
are doing this, but Protestants certainly are, to teach the eternal 
subordination of the son. Is that what the confession says? 
Is Jesus eternally subordinate? No one doubts that Jesus subordinated 
himself to the father according to his humanity. In the incarnation, 
the son of God says, my meat is to do the will of him who 
sent me. I always do the things that please my Father." He's 
speaking there according to his humanity. The idea that the Son 
is eternally subordinate to the Father is not biblical, and it's 
not confessional, and it should concern us that theologians within 
the Protestant fold are engaged in this sort of rhetoric. And 
you know, one of the ways they got there was by a denial of 
the eternal generation of the Son. It is crucial that we maintain 
those doctrines and those concepts, lest we end up as Jehovah's Witnesses. The confession goes on to say, 
the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding. Like 
I said earlier, we refer to the Father as unbegotten. The Son 
is eternally begotten of the Father. The Holy Spirit proceeding 
from the Father and the Son, all infinite, without beginning, 
therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and 
being, and here it is, but distinguished by several peculiar relative 
properties, and personal relations. It is this which distinguishes 
the father from the son, the son from the spirit, the father 
from the spirit. This language is crucial to maintain 
biblical orthodoxy. If we sacrifice the language, 
we sacrifice the dogma, and we end up being idolaters. It really is that important and 
that essential. Now, a couple of weeks ago, when 
we were in Acts 13.33, I quoted Gregory of Nazianzen with reference 
to the eternal generation of the Son. You say, well, we just 
heard it a few weeks ago. Well, you should always try to 
get Gregory into a sermon, so I'm going to go ahead and quote 
him again. He says, the beginning of God, because we're using language 
in the manner of men, right? We hear eternal generation of 
the Son, and we think human generation. We just go there. We move from 
creature and then we go to creator. We say, well, it's the case that, 
you know, I'm a father and I generated this son. At a certain point, 
that son hadn't been. And then we impose that upon 
the Godhead. We're not supposed to do that. 
We're not supposed to reason from the creature to the creator. 
That is an unauthorized movement. You cannot do that in theology 
and still maintain fidelity and orthodoxy. You'll end up being 
those who teach the eternal subjection or subordination of the son. 
But with reference to Gregory, and he has a great quote, if 
I had thought about it, I would have given that one, about doing 
that very thing, moving from the creature to the creator. 
But in terms of eternal generation, There's something that we can 
lay hold of. We know that with reference to 
the Father and the Son, there is an unbegottenness Father, 
there is a begottenness with reference to the Son. The fact 
that it's eternal should indicate to us that there never was a 
time when the Son was not. There's always been the Son. 
How does this eternal generation work? In the realm of God the 
Creator, That, we don't know, and that's what Gregory reminds 
us. The begetting of God must be 
honored by silence. It is a great thing for you to 
learn that he was begotten, but the manner of his generation, 
we will not admit that even angels can conceive, much less you. See, it's just not the case, 
brethren, that we're ever going to be able to exhaust God will 
never be able to fully plummet the depths of God. He is Creator. We are creature. We have much 
more in common with a worm than we do with the living and true 
God. We're part of the whole creaturely 
sort of existence that worms and cats and dogs and humans 
all occupy, but God is Creator. He's in a category all by Himself. That's why the confession highlights 
that He's incomprehensible. That doesn't mean we can't know 
anything. God's given us in His grace and 
mercy 31,107 propositions, verses in the Bible, that tell us or 
teach us about God. But we'll never fully explore, 
we'll never fully understand. You may just as easily go and 
fetch the Pacific Ocean and put it in a coffee cup before you 
can exhaust who God is. If we get that, it will hopefully 
go a long way to helping us with humility in the theological enterprise. Anybody who thinks they've got 
it all figured out doesn't. So back to Gregory. He says, 
But the manner of his generation, we will not admit that even angels 
can conceive much less you. Shall I tell you how it was? 
It was in a manner known to the father who begat and to the son 
who was begotten. Anything more than this is hidden 
by a cloud and escapes your dim sight. I think that's great counsel 
from Gregory, and I think we ought to abide by it. That there 
was an eternal generation of the Son, the Bible teaches. All 
of the particulars and the logistics and the details of that, as Gregory 
said, not even angels can conceive that. And we are a lot dimmer 
than they. So, that's what I think he's 
saying. The Word, the Word identified in verse 1, became flesh, incarnation, 
and He dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the 
glory as of the only begotten of the Father. In other words, 
when we look at Jesus, and when we saw Jesus, it was just like 
that. The tabernacle, the temple, where 
the presence and the glory and the power and the manifestation 
of God was there. We saw that. But when he moves 
to this statement full of grace and truth, I think he's speaking 
about the suitability of Christ as the Savior. He is speaking 
about his ability. He is speaking about his work 
as mediator. In fact, our confession uses 
this text to highlight Christ's suitability for the work of mediation. It says he might be thoroughly 
furnished to execute the office of a mediator and surety. And 
I think this is a great place to end before we move to some 
thoughts on application. But look at what John is saying. 
If you're not a Christian this morning, you're not a believer, 
think about what John's saying. The second person of the triune God, 
the Word who was in the beginning with God, the Word who was God, 
became flesh and dwelt among us. And he did that in order 
to live in obedience to the law. He did that in order to die as 
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He did 
that to be raised the third day for us men and for our salvation. 
It says he's full of grace and truth. Isn't that a pleasant 
way to describe it? If I were to say, I'd like you 
to come over today because we have a pot full of wonderful 
stew. That's a nice way to entice you. I could say, come over and eat. 
And that's okay. Come over and eat. But I could 
say, we have this big pot and it's full. It's overflowing. The wife put in extra meat. It's 
gorgeous. It's wonderful. Here's what John 
is saying. This mediator, this prophet, 
priest, and king, he's full of grace and truth. I don't know 
where this preaching ever arose where men stand before the living 
and true God, who's revealed himself in these 66 books, and 
they've become Ebenezer Scrooge, you know, measly doling out the 
grace of God. He is full of grace and truth. That ought to be an enticement 
to every sinner to run to him for that grace and truth. He 
is abundant. He is profuse. He is most glorious. He is most suited for the task 
of mediation. in terms of his ability to save 
us man, to bring us life, to bring us joy, to bring us happiness, 
to bring us right connection to God. And notice in the very 
context, the incarnation, the son of God, this one equipped 
with all grace and truth is in fact the mediator of a better 
covenant. Look at verse 17, for the law 
was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through 
Jesus Christ. Do you know what John doesn't 
mean there? John does not mean there was 
no grace and truth in the Old Testament. There's no grace and 
truth in the Old Covenant. That's not what John means. John 
is speaking of Moses as the mediator of the Old Covenant. What kind 
of thing characterized that Old Covenant? Law. He's speaking 
in covenantal categories. He's not saying there was no 
grace and there was no truth in the Old Covenant. There's 
a lot of grace and a lot of truth. But the identifying marker with 
reference to Moses' mediation over Old Covenant Israel was 
it was a law covenant. It was a covenant of works. But 
notice what he says concerning Jesus in verse 17. He says, for 
the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through 
Jesus Christ. He's not saying there's no law 
in the new covenant. He's not saying do whatever it 
is, just live however. No, he's talking in terms of 
covenantal categories. Old covenant, Moses, mediator, 
law. New covenant, Jesus, mediator, 
grace. truth, blessedness, profuseness, 
kindness, mercy, goodness, love. Don't say, I don't wanna come 
to Jesus because I've been taught that God's only gonna save a 
handful. No, the word goes out today, 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. What's 
Jesus say later in John 6, 37? All that the father gives me 
will come to me and the one who comes to me, I will certainly 
not cast out. If your theology has taught you 
that he will cast you out, get rid of that theology. Cast it 
out, because a sinner coming to Christ in faith is received 
by Christ. That's what the Bible tells us. 
That's what it testifies concerning. So he is the mediator of a better 
covenant. And notice in verse 18, he is 
the one that exegetes the Father. Verse 18 says, no one has seen 
God at any time. The only begotten Son, which 
is the better reading. If you have only begotten God 
there, I'd cross it out and put begotten Son. The only begotten 
Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has literally exegeted 
Him. If you've ever talked to Isaac, 
who's sick this morning, so pray for him when you go home. But 
if you ever talk to him, he uses the word exegesis a lot, doesn't 
he? He loves exegesis. Sometimes before a sermon, I'm 
waiting for the exegesis. That's what it is. It's a leading 
out of the text, the meaning that God intended for us. It's 
like the word exit. It means to go out of. Exegesis 
is to take out of the message or out of the text what the meaning 
the Spirit intended. This is what it says, declared 
is a good, accurate translation. This literally, the son has exegeted 
the father. The son can say later to the 
disciples in John 14, if you've seen me, then you've seen the 
father. He declares him, he demonstrates 
him, he exegetes him, he expounds him, he shows him, he declares 
for us who God is. And he is in fact, and I've already 
alluded to this, the true temple of God, John 2. John 2, the cleansing 
of the temple, verse 18, the Lord Jesus, or the Jews rather, 
answered and said to him, What sign do you show to us since 
you do these things? Jesus answered and said to them, 
Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then 
the Jews said, It has taken 46 years to build this temple, and 
will you raise it up in three days? But he was speaking of 
the temple of his body. Therefore, when he had risen 
from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this 
to them, and they believed the scripture and the word which 
Jesus had said. So they beheld his glory, the 
glory as of the only begotten of the Father. And this one is 
full of grace and truth. I think it's John's way to highlight 
that this one that I'm gonna talk about in the rest of my 
gospel is a God, is the word who is full of grace and truth, 
evidenced by the fact that he saves sinners to the uttermost. 
Well, brethren, in conclusion, with reference to the glorious 
person of our Lord Jesus Christ, we need to appreciate, we need 
to embrace what scripture teaches. The word became flesh and dwelt 
among us. I'd love to give everybody a 
quiz right now and say, what was that word I said earlier 
the sort of theological word that designates that reality. 
The one person and the two natures. If you're thinking hypostatic 
union, you win. You get a gold star for today. 
Hypostatic union. Sometimes people say, well, I 
don't want all those big words. I don't want to... Brethren, 
we need those big words. If I were to go see a lawyer 
or a doctor, I said, don't give me big words. Well, those words 
carry the information that we need to understand. There's a 
movement in theology to just dumb it down as much as we can. 
Now, I think and I'm committed to try and explain things, to 
try to make big words simpler so that we can get our minds 
wrapped around. But may I encourage each and every one of us to sacrifice 
the big words, the very language that theology has used successfully 
for 20 centuries. Getting rid of those words often 
ends up in getting rid of the doctrine. It's those words that 
help us to protect the doctrine of scripture in the early church, 
in the medieval, and in the Reformation period. All the good theologians 
recognize this. The people that oppose this sort 
of thing, people like Sassinians and some Anabaptists and others, 
well, you've got to use words that are only found in the Bible. 
Well, John Calvin and the rest of them said, no, we need to 
use words outside of the Bible at times to protect the words 
that are inside the Bible. The Word Trinity. Go home, do 
a search in your concordance and see if you find the Word 
Trinity. Or go out and talk to Jehovah's Witnesses and tell 
them you believe in the Trinity. Well, the Word Trinity is not 
in the Bible. But the doctrine is. The reality is. One true 
and living God who exists eternally is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
And that Word Trinity helps us to protect the reality. Do not 
jettison these things. The hypostatic union is crucial. Thomas Watson, speaking concerning 
the Word Became Flesh, he says that man should be made in God's 
image was a wonder, but that God should be made in man's image 
is a greater wonder. that the Ancient of Days should 
be born, that he who thunders in the heavens should cry in 
the cradle, that he who rules the stars should suck the breast, 
that a virgin should conceive, that Christ should be made of 
a woman, and of that woman which Himself made, that the branch 
should bear the vine, that the mother should be younger than 
the child she bear, and the child in the womb bigger than the mother, 
that the human nature should not be God, yet one with God. It is a glorious and a wonderful 
truth. And that affirmation is required 
with reference to the people of God Almighty. We believe in 
these things, we hold dear to these things, and we will never 
relinquish them, nor will we let them go. I mentioned those 
creeds of the early church, just one of them, the Athanasian Creed, 
the very end. I'd read you the bit dealing 
with what we've discussed, but we don't have time. But it says 
at the end, this is the Catholic faith. Now, don't think Roman 
Catholic. Catholic means universal. This is what Christians throughout 
the ages, Christians throughout the world must affirm. This is 
the Catholic faith. It says, this is the Catholic 
faith, which except a man shall have believed faithfully and 
firmly, he cannot be in a state of salvation. You can be wrong 
in eschatology and be in a state of salvation. You can't be wrong 
with reference to the Trinity. You can't be wrong with reference 
to Christology. Brethren, we ought to have more 
and more sermons on the Incarnation. We ought to sing these hymns 
more and more throughout the year. It ought not to just be 
located in December. That idea of veiled in flesh 
the Godhead see, hail the incarnate deity, pleased as man with men 
to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel, doesn't that make your heart 
sore? The thought, the reality behind what John is saying, the 
Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, 
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace 
and truth. Secondly, in terms of the purpose 
of the incarnation for us men and for our salvation, He took 
on the nature of man to redeem man. Hebrews 2. He doesn't take 
on angels, He takes on man. He assumes our humanity. If it 
is not assumed, it's not redeemed. He was touched by our weakness 
as a man. Isn't that glorious as well? 
Isn't it wonderful to know that your Savior had the various things 
that we face in this world, yet without sin. but certainly understood 
temptation. Certainly when he's driven out 
by the Spirit into the wilderness and tempted by the Spirit, the 
devil rather, for 40 days, he understood something about humanity 
in that context, in that construct. He obeys perfectly the law of 
God. Again, we cannot underestimate that. That was what we emphasized 
last Sunday in the Acts 13 there. Not only the forgiveness of sins, 
but justification from all things that you could not be justified 
by the law of Moses. We need an obedience. We need 
a righteousness. We need a champion. We need a 
victor. We need a savior. And Christ 
fulfills that. He died in our place and he was 
raised for our justification. Romans 4.25, he was delivered 
up because of our offenses and he was raised for our justification. Watson again. says he was poor 
that he might make us rich. He was born of a virgin that 
we might be born of God. He took our flesh that he might 
give us his spirit. He lay in the manger that we 
might lie in paradise. He came down from heaven that 
he might bring us to heaven. And what was all this but love? If our hearts be not rocks, this 
love of Christ should affect us. Behold love that passes knowledge. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. And I don't want to end without 
reminding you how John ends. If you look at John's gospel, 
this is prologue, verses 1 to 18. It sets the stage. It's the 
first word. It's the consideration of the 
word that is going to be revealed from the rest of chapter 1 all 
the way up to chapter 20. Chapter 21 functions as an epilogue. Chapter 20 is probably the formal 
end. 21 is still written by John under 
the inspiration of the Spirit, but that's functioning as epilogue. 
Well, in John chapter 20, we have Thomas, the very end, saying, 
He affirms what John writes here in John 1.1. In the beginning 
was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Thomas, that doubter, Thomas, 
that skeptic, Thomas, that guy who said, I will not believe 
unless I touch and unless I see, sees Christ and says, my Lord 
and my God. Well, John then gives us the 
purpose for which he wrote his gospel. In verses 30 and 31, 
he says, and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence 
of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these 
are written. Why? Why did John write? So you could continue in this 
mindset that God doesn't save? God only saves a small handful? 
Is that why John wrote? I want you to see God as a sort 
of divine Ebenezer Scrooge. I want you to see him as a malicious, 
miserly figure that only doles out a little bit of his grace 
and only doles out a little bit of his... That's not what John 
says. John says these things are written that You may believe 
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing 
you may have life in His name. An apostle, given the Spirit 
of God to move him to write this book, wrote for the purpose of 
sinners being saved. So if you think God doesn't really 
save, God's not really in the business of saving, you need 
to rethink your life. You need to reorient yourself 
to the truth of Holy Scripture. John wrote, so that you may believe, 
and that believing you may have eternal life. I'll end with Edward 
Payson. Payson, with reference to Isaiah 
9. In Isaiah 9, 6, you have a description 
of the Redeemer. In Isaiah 9, 7, you have a description 
of his kingdom. That's how 6 and 7 function there 
in Isaiah the prophet, chapter 9. But with reference to those 
titles given by the prophet under inspiration of the Holy Spirit 
concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, Payson says, consult Him as Counselor, adore 
Him as God, be born of Him as your everlasting Father, and 
submit to Him as the Prince of Peace. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for 
your word. We thank you for the incarnate word who became flesh. 
How we praise you for this one, this blessed one who came down 
for us men and for our salvation. And God, our heartfelt desire 
and earnest plea to you is that this gospel would be preached 
throughout the world and that sinners, by grace, would believe. 
They would repent. They would know the joy of being 
found in Him. And God, in a special sense, we pray that for our own 
meeting here. We pray, God, that you would be gracious and merciful 
to open hearts to the truth of sin and wretchedness and rebellion 
and to the truth of a great Savior, a great champion who did what 
we couldn't do, who lived for us, who died for us, and who 
was raised for us. And God, be merciful and apply 
these things by the power of your Holy Spirit. And we ask 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, we'll close our service 
by singing the doxology in praise to God, that is number five, 
or a version of a doxology, 564. 564, when you find that, you 
can stand and we will sing together. so ♪ Blessed be Jehovah, the God of 
Israel ♪ ♪ Who only knew His wondrous works in glory and excel 
♪ ♪ Who only knew His wondrous works in glory and excel ♪ ♪ 
In glory ever sound ♪ ♪ And blessed be his glorious name ♪ ♪ Through 
all eternity ♪ ♪ From all earth let his glory now unend soar 
♪ Amen. Amen. May the grace of the Lord Jesus 
Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit 
be with you all. Amen. God, thank you for your 
glory. Thank you for your majesty. Thank 
you for your power, your works of creation and providence and 
redemption. Thank you for who you are, Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit. Give us grace today to celebrate 
and rejoice in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, to 
rejoice in the reality that through Him we have received every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. And God, may these 
things draw from our hearts, worship, praise, and adoration 
to you, our great God. And we ask these things through 
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.